


me and a bunch of teenagers (and, apparently, rupert giles's ex-girlfriend)

by The_Eclectic_Bookworm



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comics 2019), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: BOOM! Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics, F/F, Gen, pretty much directly after issue 12, the jenny/anya is very lightly implied but it's definitely present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22578643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Eclectic_Bookworm/pseuds/The_Eclectic_Bookworm
Summary: It takes a lot of strong-arming on Jenny’s part to getanyoneto sleep—and to get Cordelia to stop trying to take pictures of Camazotz for her Instagram story, becauseno one can know where they are—but eventually Cordy’s phone is confiscated, Willow has stopped dry-sobbing into Rose’s shoulder, and Kendra has been convinced that sleep is required to make sure a Vampire Slayer is at peak alertness.
Relationships: Jenny Calendar & Anya Jenkins, Jenny Calendar/Anya Jenkins
Comments: 13
Kudos: 22





	me and a bunch of teenagers (and, apparently, rupert giles's ex-girlfriend)

**Author's Note:**

> read the boom comics. they're extremely good.

Jenny Calendar is surprisingly competent, Anya thinks, scanning the children to make sure that 1) all of them are there and 2) all of them are clutching Camazotz’s fur securely enough to _not_ fall off the bat’s back and die. She has enough trouble to deal with; she doesn’t want to add to their growing body count. The angry boy in the cemetery, the Harris boy taken down in Tunaverse…

“Ease up on the death grip,” Jenny is saying to Cordelia, who has affixed herself to Camazotz like a terrified baby monkey. “He’s a good bat. He won’t let any of us fall to our doom.” She leans over to scratch Camazotz’s ears. “Who’s a good bat? You’re a good bat!”

To the untrained ear, the noise that Camazotz makes in response sounds like an aggrieved growl—which doesn’t do much to calm down Willow, Cordelia, or Rose. (Kendra seems to be taking this situation in stride.) Anya, however, knows her beasties well enough to know that Camazotz has taken a liking to this odd force of nature. She doesn’t blame him. “You’re good in a crisis,” she informs Jenny. “Where did you get Camazotz?”

“Rupert and I were seeing each other,” says Jenny with a small shrug. “I have a key to his place.”

One word in that sentence stands out to Anya. “Were?”

“Listen, not to distract from you two _flirting,”_ says Cordelia through gritted teeth, “but how do we know that Bat-boy here isn’t gonna _kill us?_ Last time he showed up, he wrecked half of downtown!”

“He would _never_. He’s a _good_ bat,” Jenny coos. Camazotz growls happily. “Such a _smart_ bat, too! Figured out what I was trying to do pretty much as soon as I set him free.”

“I’m not _flirting,”_ says Anya irritably. “I’m _clarifying._ It’s important to know what Giles’s mental state might have been before he succumbed to the Hellmother’s influence.”

Jenny’s face twists a little. “So that wasn’t all him,” she says, almost to herself.

Normally, Anya wouldn’t pry: not out of respect, of course, just because mortal humans are so profoundly _boring._ But something in Jenny’s expression, coupled with the fact that Anya knows Rupert Giles well enough to know that there’s no man less suited for a long-term relationship, makes her curious enough to ask, “What _did_ he say to you?”

Jenny lets out a soft breath and says, “Nothing that really surprised me, to be honest.”

There’s a tired resignation to Jenny’s expression that Anya is surprised to find herself empathizing with. “He’s a Watcher, you know,” she says. “I don’t think it could have ever worked out.”

“Don’t say that,” says Jenny suddenly, looking furiously up at Anya. “Do not. Don’t give him that credit. Don’t say that it’s _ingrained,_ Anya, don’t tell me that he could never be anything _but_ a Watcher—everyone makes a choice, and he made his. He’s decided that his purpose in life is to protect Buffy before everything and _everyone_ else. Even if it means the lives of the people she loves are lost in the process.” She swallows. “I can’t live like that.”

“What?” says Willow unsteadily.

Jenny turns to give Willow a small, wobbly smile. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I know you care a lot about Rupert—”

Willow sniffles and doesn’t say much else.

Anya moves awkwardly up Camazotz’s back to sit next to Jenny. Windswept and flushed, still brimming over with confidence and adrenaline, Jenny Calendar is unthinkably beautiful. _Maybe I_ am _flirting,_ she thinks, but—no, no, now isn’t the time, not when the world might end if they’re not quick enough. _“I’m_ sorry,” Anya says, and is surprised—again—to find herself genuinely meaning it. “You deserve much better than someone who will never prioritize you over their calling, and—even if you two love each other, I’m very glad you’re not settling for Rupert. He’s a good man, but I don’t think he’s very good at relationships.”

“He’s not very good at most things,” says Jenny heavily, and lets out a laugh that’s almost a sob.

“But?”

Jenny gives Anya a wry, tired smile. “But some part of me still loves him, I think,” she says, as though it’s her worst character flaw. She ducks her head, running her hands through Camazotz’s fur, looking down at it as though it holds the key to saving the world. Softly, she says, “Where are you taking us, Pegasus?”

 _PEGASUS,_ Camazotz echoes with happy satisfaction. Then, _WHERE WE NEED TO BE._

“Sure hope it’s better than Tunaverse,” says Anya, and awkwardly bumps her shoulder against Jenny’s. Jenny looks up and gives her a tired half-smile.

* * *

They bunk in an old cave that definitely belonged to Camazotz a long, long time ago—hidden away in one of the weird mountain-y areas overlooking Sunnydale. Camazotz lets the girls snuggle into his fur, all of them exhausted by the events of the night. It takes a lot of strong-arming on Jenny’s part to get _anyone_ to sleep—and to get Cordelia to stop trying to take pictures of Camazotz for her Instagram story, because _no one can know where they are—_ but eventually Cordy’s phone is confiscated, Willow has stopped dry-sobbing into Rose’s shoulder, and Kendra has been convinced that sleep is required to make sure a Vampire Slayer is at peak alertness.

Anya isn’t really one for sleeping, though, and it looks like Jenny’s a little too antsy to fall asleep herself, so they sit together at the entrance to the cave and look down at Sunnydale below. The light from Tunaverse illuminates the entire town.

“The world is on fire,” says Jenny absently.

Anya turns to look at her. “Has it ever _not_ been?” she says. “Even when evil’s not actively _being evil,_ there’s always some kind of plan in the works. It’s why I hate helping people—our efforts are ultimately pretty fruitless when all our hard work is gonna be trampled to dust in a hundred years or so.”

Jenny cocks her head, studying Anya thoughtfully. “You know,” she says, “you’re pretty shockingly fatalistic for a friend of Rupert’s.”

“We’re not exactly friends,” says Anya. “We _know_ each other, but we’re not exactly friends.”

“Thank god,” says Jenny, and they both kind of laugh.

“Listen,” says Anya, “it’s usually not my policy to ask, but…you were dating Rupert for a long time, and he’s definitely mentioned you more than once. Are you doing okay?”

Jenny half-shrugs, looking awkwardly away from Anya. “I really don’t know,” she says. “I…for the first time, I honestly don’t know what my future looks like.”

“If it helps,” says Anya, “I don’t think _anyone_ really knows right now.”

Jenny nods, her eyes again on the bright purple light. “I knew something was wrong,” she says. “Usually this is one of those nights where Rupert gets all panicky and overprotective and rushes off to save the world, but…the last time I saw him, he wasn’t doing so hot. So I went to his house, because I had a feeling he was probably in the middle of some serious trouble and _not_ at home, and I set Camazotz free.”

“Smart call,” says Anya.

“It didn’t feel like it at the time,” says Jenny quietly. “I was just…desperate.”

Anya bumps her shoulder against Jenny’s again—she’s not very good at comfort. “I don’t know, Jenny,” she says lightly. “Given that you got us all to safety and away from that godforsaken chain restaurant, I think you did pretty well.”

“Yeah?”

“Not entirely surprising, considering that you’re _Rupert’s_ ex-girlfriend,” says Anya. “He has a knack for picking sparklingly capable romantic partners.” She wrinkles her nose. “I’m only glad that you choose to properly utilize your capabilities.”

“Have you met Ethan?” says Jenny with a laugh. “Is that why you’re throwing shade at his other exes?”

“Oh, good, you know about that disaster of a man,” says Anya flatly. “I’m sincerely glad it didn’t last. Ethan was always tagging along when Rupert showed up in my shop, and he would _always_ steal something expensive and use it to cause trouble. I had to ban him after a little while.”

“Why not just ban him after the first theft?”

Anya shrugs, smiling. “I’m neutral,” she says. “I like a little bit of trouble. I only started getting annoyed when it started impacting my finances.”

“Fair enough.” Jenny is smiling too, but her smile fades as she continues to look down at Sunnydale.

“Oh, don’t look _there,”_ says Anya impatiently. “There’s nothing good to be seen there, and we’ll have to sleep anyway before anything can be done.”

“How can we sleep?” says Jenny, but it seems more to herself than to Anya. “There are so many people in serious danger right now.”

“We can’t help them if we’re exhausted,” Anya points out. “Isn’t that what you were saying to Kendra?”

“… _you’re_ not asleep,” grumbles Jenny.

“I’m not tired,” says Anya simply. It seems more straightforward and to the point than _I’m immortal._

Jenny exhales. “It’s just…” It takes her another moment to speak. Tentatively, she says, “I used to tell Rupert that he was doing it all wrong. I used to say that he needed to remember that these kids were kids and shouldn’t be in a position where they’re forced to fight evil before they’ve even taken the SATs. And now it’s gonna be _me_ calling the shots, not him, and I have the opportunity to fix what I always hated about his approach, but…” She shakes her head. Though her voice is steady, tears are trickling down her face. “I don’t want these kids hurt,” she says. “I don’t feel strong enough to send them out into battle. I want them to stay in this cave while the adults handle things, but right now, that isn’t an option.”

“You saw what Willow did at Tunaverse,” says Anya quietly. “You know that the world _needs_ them if it wants a fighting chance.”

“Yeah,” says Jenny. Her voice breaks. “Yeah.”

“That doesn’t make it any less hard, though.”

“No,” says Jenny, and looks back over her shoulder at the girls, her expression softening. Camazotz opens one eye to survey Jenny, and there’s a softness to its expression.

“You should get some sleep, you know,” says Anya, and is surprised to hear an awkward gentleness to her tone. “I might be up a little longer, but…you should sleep.”

Jenny nods jerkily, pulling herself up from the cave floor. Camazotz opens a wing, and she settles in, cuddling into its side. Anya watches her for a moment—Jenny’s dark hair obscuring her face, her elegant fingers tangling in Camazotz’s fur—and then she turns back to the entrance of the cave, quietly watching the town. It’s lit up like a signal flare. _Here,_ it says. _Over here. Something’s wrong and it needs fixing._

Anya wishes Rupert were here, if only because he’s somewhat annoying and his tiff with Jenny might distract them all from the sense of impending doom. But Rupert isn’t here—he’s down there with the rest of the men-turned-to-monsters. She doesn’t quite miss him, but she doesn’t think it’s where he is supposed to be.

“Anya?” Jenny’s voice is soft and drowsy. “You should sleep too, you know.”

“I’m not tired,” says Anya reflexively.

Jenny opens her eyes all the way just so she can very pointedly roll them.

“Ugh,” says Anya, and pulls herself up to walk across the cave, sitting down next to Jenny. The girls are all fast asleep, and Jenny seems halfway there herself. “If it’ll get you off my case, I _suppose_ I can lie down—but don’t expect me to _actually sleep!_ That isn’t my thing.”

“Whatever,” mumbles Jenny, and closes her eyes again.

When she’s sure Jenny is all the way asleep, Anya quietly tucks that choppily-cut dark hair behind Jenny’s ear. Jenny stirs, but doesn’t wake, and mumbles something in an almost plaintive tone of voice.

“The world does end up carrying on,” says Anya very softly, resting her head against Camazotz’s fur and continuing to study Jenny’s face. “No matter what happens in the days to come, Ms. Calendar, I sincerely hope you’re able to remember that.”


End file.
